a Provencal collector: Michel Biehn

  

 

 

In World of Interiors, I recently read about Michel Biehn, a Provencal dealer of antiques and textiles and collector of objects amassed from his travels throughout Asia and the East. He seems like a real Provencal character.  His home in L'Isle sur la Sorgue (snapshots below) is a hodge podge of eye-catching things: beads, gourds and calabashes, costumes, embroidred fabrics, and everything else that he's brought along from his travels.  Collecting must be in his blood: over a span of 140 years, several generations of his family collected a variety of freshwater bird eggs! How unusual! He inherited this collection, and added to it his own varieties of eggshells he happened to have. They are each labeled with the type and where they were found. I love the way they are presented, so clean and uniform.

As it turns out, Mr. Biehn is also a interior designer and author of several books about lifestyle, cuisine and culture Provence.  Below are a few photos of his home.

His story made me immediately think of different people I've known through my life who've collected various things. I tend to be a collector myself, though my collections are often hidden away in drawers. But I do think the best way to get something out of your collections is to display them.  Almost anything collected, displayed well and with uniformity, can become a work of art. (photos by Bruno Suet in World of Interiors, May 2009)

Matchbox wall art at Anthropologie

I thought this was an eye-catching use of some old matchboxes.  Seeing these colorful boxes nailed onto the simple grid made me want to start gathering matchboxes of my own to make some kind of art work.  Anthropologie's creative installations always inspire me and the London Regent Street store has some fantastic displays.

Small style from Emily Chalmers

I'm sure most of you have read about or seen sylist Emily Chalmer's work through her books, Flea Market Syle, Contemporary Country and Table Inspirations, as well as her charming East London shop, Caravan. She is an inspiration- she always coming up with something unusual for her shop, and every time I pop in, I get new ideas from the way she has fashioned objects into a decorative scene. Not to mention, Emily herself is just a kind person who goes out of her way for her customers. Well, she's at it again with this ingenious little dollhouse I saw in January's Elle Decoration.
Emily and wallpaper designer Deborah Bowness designed this incredible dollhouse together and the detail is remarkable! I can't imagine where they found all the little bits, but it looks like a house you might really want for yourself instead of just for play!
Click on the photos to see more in a larger size. (Photos by Debi Treolar)

Little bird chandeliers: Mathieu Challieres

I came across these beautiful light fixtures made by French company Mathieu Challieres on the blog Famille Summerbelle. I love these bright little birds in illuminated cages. I'd love one in my study (if I had a study, that is.) And the apples! Wouldn't that be a fun fixture for a kitchen?

Artist John Dilnot

The other day as I was wandering around in a London neighborhood near Bloomsbury, I happened upon a gallery showing works by the artist John Dilnot. He's a British artist, characterized as "urbanist" , who creates books, prints and other works from found objects. I immediately liked his work shown at this gallery- cut paper collages in handmade wooden boxes.








Chris Lethbridge describes his work like this: "John Dilnot’s art is the expression of an intensely urban and industrial society, obsessed by its agrarian past...Memories of past agricultural squalor, hardship and poverty have been suppressed in favour of the classic archetype of England, as pastoral Never Never Land. Through the period of the 20th century imperial and economic decline this sense of a retreat into a fantasy as a panacea for contemporary reality has become ever more pronounced."

Lyndie Dourthe: paper fantasy

Lyndie Dourthe is a French artist who is self-described as passionate about paper. She creates lovely jewelry to be worn as well as objets d'art. Her installations are intricate and naturalistic.

Collecting: antique playing cards

Maybe I've never considered playing cards as a cool decorative element, but I ran across these and the colors and designs seemed interesting. They'd be nice in a frame or reproduced on wallpaper, maybe? I never realized the history behind playing cards, but they have been around since the 14th Century. (photos: ebay, World of Playing Cards, with more than you'll ever need to know about cards)

children's cards from Cuba






Spain, '70's


wildlife playing cards from the '70's

Salvage and such: Brooklyn

Last weekend I found an interesting home/style/antiques shop on that stretch of Atlantic Avenue with all the antiques- it's called Darr. What a cool assortment of odd, discarded, decorative and useful objects. One particular favorite was a work table the owner had made out of a steel base and an old, paint covered and worn wood desktop. It was a bit higher than a normal desk, but looked rugged, and I would have taken it home if I had the space. Sure, Darr carries some of the same industrial/steel/midcentury/salvage things you see repeatedly on Atlantic Ave., but the selection is just different enough from the others to make you want to keep poking around the store. I especially love the glass display cases and giant old jars.